Combined Effects Of Age Research Articles

Bladder and urethral dysfunction in multiparous and mature rabbits correlates with abnormal activity of pubococcygeus and bulbospongiosus muscles.

To evaluate the combined effect of age and multiparity on the micturition reflex, includingpelvic floor muscle activation. Young and mature nulliparous rabbits were compared to young and mature multiparas (n = 6 per group). Cystometrograms and urethral pressure (UP) were performed while simultaneously recording the electromyogram (EMG) activity of the pubococcygeus and bulbospongiosus muscles to establish their functional correlation to urological function. Multiparity and age significantly influence the bladder and UP affecting the voiding efficiency and intercontraction interval. Such interaction also reduced the UP threshold, timing, and duration. Other bladder and urethral variables were predominantly affected only by age. Urodynamic alterations correlated with abnormal patternsor absent EMG activity of the pubococcygeus and bulbospongiosus muscles. The present findings strongly suggest that multiparity and age affects specific pelvic floor muscle reflex activation during micturition, andmay contribute to alterations in bladder and urethral function. This data broadens our understanding of the critical role of the appropriate activity of the individual pelvic floor muscles in micturition.

Age and terminal reproductive attempt influence laying date in the thorn‐tailed rayadito

Age‐specific variation in reproductive effort can affect population dynamics, and is a key component of the evolution of reproductive tactics. Late‐life declines are a typical feature of variation in reproduction. However, the cause of these declines, and thus their implications for the evolution of life‐history tactics, may differ. Some prior studies have shown late‐life reproductive declines to be tied to chronological age, whereas other studies have found declines associated with terminal reproduction irrespective of chronological age. We investigated the extent to which declines in late life reproduction are related to chronological age, terminal reproductive attempt or a combination of both in the thorn‐tailed rayadito Aphrastura spinicauda, a small passerine bird that inhabits the temperate forest of South America. To this end we used long‐term data (10 years) obtained on reproductive success (laying date, clutch size and nestling weight) of females in a Chilean population. Neither chronological age nor terminal reproductive attempt explained variation in clutch size or nestling weight, however we observed that during the terminal reproductive attempt older females tended to lay later in the breeding season and younger females laid early in the breeding season, but this was not the case when the reproductive attempt was not the last. These results suggests that both age‐dependent and age‐independent effects influence reproductive output and therefore that the combined effects of age and physiological condition may be more relevant than previously thought.

Effects of Age and Hearing Loss on the Recognition of Emotions in Speech.

Emotional communication is a cornerstone of social cognition and informs human interaction. Previous studies have shown deficits in facial and vocal emotion recognition in older adults, particularly for negative emotions. However, few studies have examined combined effects of aging and hearing loss on vocal emotion recognition by adults. The objective of this study was to compare vocal emotion recognition in adults with hearing loss relative to age-matched peers with normal hearing. We hypothesized that age would play a role in emotion recognition and that listeners with hearing loss would show deficits across the age range. Thirty-two adults (22 to 74 years of age) with mild to severe, symmetrical sensorineural hearing loss, amplified with bilateral hearing aids and 30 adults (21 to 75 years of age) with normal hearing, participated in the study. Stimuli consisted of sentences spoken by 2 talkers, 1 male, 1 female, in 5 emotions (angry, happy, neutral, sad, and scared) in an adult-directed manner. The task involved a single-interval, five-alternative forced-choice paradigm, in which the participants listened to individual sentences and indicated which of the five emotions was targeted in each sentence. Reaction time was recorded as an indirect measure of cognitive load. Results showed significant effects of age. Older listeners had reduced accuracy, increased reaction times, and reduced d' values. Normal hearing listeners showed an Age by Talker interaction where older listeners had more difficulty identifying male vocal emotion. Listeners with hearing loss showed reduced accuracy, increased reaction times, and lower d' values compared with age-matched normal-hearing listeners. Within the group with hearing loss, age and talker effects were significant, and low-frequency pure-tone averages showed a marginally significant effect. Contrary to other studies, once hearing thresholds were taken into account, no effects of listener sex were observed, nor were there effects of individual emotions on accuracy. However, reaction times and d' values showed significant differences between individual emotions. The results of this study confirm existing findings in the literature showing that older adults show significant deficits in voice emotion recognition compared with their normally hearing peers, and that among listeners with normal hearing, age-related changes in hearing do not predict this age-related deficit. The present results also add to the literature by showing that hearing impairment contributes additionally to deficits in vocal emotion recognition, separate from deficits related to age. These effects of age and hearing loss appear to be quite robust, being evident in reduced accuracy scores and d' measures, as well as in reaction time measures.

Frontal crash simulations using parametric human models representing a diverse population

Objective: Analyses of crash data have shown that older, obese, and/or female occupants have a higher risk of injury in frontal crashes compared to the rest of the population. The objective of this study was to use parametric finite element (FE) human models to assess the increased injury risks and identify safety concerns for these vulnerable populations.Methods: We sampled 100 occupants based on age, sex, stature, and body mass index (BMI) to span a wide range of the U.S. adult population. The target anatomical geometry for each of the 100 models was predicted by the statistical geometry models for the rib cage, pelvis, femur, tibia, and external body surface developed previously. A regional landmark-based mesh morphing method was used to morph the Global Human Body Models Consortium (GHBMC) M50-OS model into the target geometries. The morphed human models were then positioned in a validated generic vehicle driver compartment model using a statistical driving posture model. Frontal crash simulations based on U.S. New Car Assessment Program (U.S. NCAP) were conducted. Body region injury risks were calculated based on the risk curves used in the US NCAP, except that scaling was used for the neck, chest, and knee–thigh–hip injury risk curves based on the sizes of the bony structures in the corresponding body regions. Age effects were also considered for predicting chest injury risk.Results: The simulations demonstrated that driver stature and body shape affect occupant interactions with the restraints and consequently affect occupant kinematics and injury risks in severe frontal crashes. U-shaped relations between occupant stature/weight and head injury risk were observed. Chest injury risk was strongly affected by age and sex, with older female occupants having the highest risk. A strong correlation was also observed between BMI and knee–thigh–hip injury risk, whereas none of the occupant parameters meaningfully affected neck injury risks.Conclusions: This study is the first to use a large set of diverse FE human models to investigate the combined effects of age, sex, stature, and BMI on injury risks in frontal crashes. The study demonstrated that parametric human models can effectively predict the injury trends for the population and may now be used to optimize restraint systems for people who are not similar in size and shape to the available anthropomorphic test devices (ATDs). New restraints that adapt to occupant age, sex, stature, and body shape may improve crash safety for all occupants.

Reference interval by the indirect approach of serum thyrotropin (TSH) in a Mediterranean adult population and the association with age and gender.

Background The serum concentration of thyrotropin (TSH) represents a first-line test in diagnostic algorithms. The estimation of TSH reference intervals (RIs) is still a matter of debate due to the high prevalence of subclinical disease making difficult the definition of truly healthy subjects. The aim of this study was to estimate TSH RIs in healthy subjects and to evaluate the effect of age and gender on TSH concentration. Methods Forty-four thousand one hundred and fifty-six TSH data were collected between July 2012 and April 2018 at the Department of Laboratory Medicine, University-Hospital, Palermo. Common and sex-specific RIs were estimated by Arzideh's indirect method after exclusion of individuals younger than 15 years, subjects with repeated TSH tests and with abnormal free thyroxine (fT4), free triiodothyronine (fT3) or anti-thyroid-peroxidase antibodies. The combined effect of age and gender on TSH values was evaluated. Results RIs estimated in the selected individuals (n = 22602) were, respectively, 0.18-3.54 mIU/L (general), 0.19-3.23 mIU/L (men) and 0.18-3.94 mIU/L (women). Women showed significantly higher median TSH than men (1.46 vs. 1.39 mIU/L; p < 0.0001). Both in men and in women, median TSH decreased along with age; however, although up to 60 years in both men and women showed similar values, afterwards women showed constantly higher TSH than men. Accordingly, statistical analysis showed a significant interaction between gender and age (p = 0.001), suggesting that the effect of age on TSH is different between genders. Conclusions Our findings suggest that the indirect method, with appropriate cleaning of data, could be useful to define TSH RIs.

Age, mating status and sex influence food consumption and utilization efficiency of Parthenium beetle, Zygogramma bicolorata Pallister

A study was designed to evaluate the combined effects of age, mating status and sex on the feeding attributes of the Parthenium beetle, Zygogramma bicolorata Pallister when fed on Parthenium hysterophorus L., a serious weed of wastelands, pastures and agricultural fields. Newly emerged adult beetles were placed in two groups. Adults of the first group were kept unmated and their daily feeding and growth attributes were assessed for the following 20 days. By comparison, males and females of the second group were allowed to mate on the 11th day (attainment of sexual maturity) and mating pairs were kept individually to assess their daily feeding and growth attributes for the following 10 days. Results revealed higher consumption and growth rates of Z. bicolorata females than males. In contrast, males exhibited higher food conversion efficiencies than the females. However, food consumption and growth rates of unmated adults were higher than mated adults. Agebased regression graphs revealed decreased consumption rates, conversion efficiencies and growth rates of Z. bicolorata adults with increase in age. However, the mean body biomass of adults increased with increasing age. This further suggested compensatory feeding in Z. bicolorata adults as they age. The present findings may be helpful to mass-multiply Z. bicolorata in laboratories for the biocontrol of Parthenium weed in agricultural farms on the Indian subcontinent.

Circulating miR-146a in healthy aging and type 2 diabetes: Age- and gender-specific trajectories

To evaluate the combined effect of age and glycemic state on circulating levels of the inflamma-miR‐146a levels, 188 healthy subjects (CTR) aged 20–104 years and 144 type-2 diabetic patients (T2DM), aged 40‐80 years, were analyzed. In CTR subjects, miR-146a levels showed a significant age-related decline. When a gender-stratified analysis was ran, the miR‐146a age-related trajectory was confirmed only in men and a negative correlation with PAI-1, uric acid, and creatinine was also observed. In women, miR-146a circulating levels showed negative correlations with azotemia, uric acid, waist/hip ratio and ferritin. A significant miR-146a decline with aging was also observed in T2DM patients. Significant positive correlations were found between miR-146a in diabetic patients and total cholesterol, LDL-C, ApoA1, ApoB, and platelets, and negative correlations with serum iron and ferritin. Notably, miR-146a was significantly overexpressed in T2DM patients treated with metformin. MiR-146a levels were significantly lower in diabetic patients than in age-matched CTR and negatively correlated to both fasting glucose and HbA1c in males. Finally, age-related trajectories for circulating miR-146a levels showed an inverted U-shaped relationship; however, in T2DM patients the trajectory was significantly shifted towards lower levels. Our findings support the hypothesis that miR-146a could be a functional biomarker of healthy/unhealthy aging.

The Combined Effect of Aging and Performance Level on Pacing in Duathlon – the “ITU Powerman Long Distance Duathlon World Championships”

The role of age and performance level has been investigated in runners such as marathoners, but not in multi-sports athletes such as duathletes (running, cycling, and running). Thus, the aim of the present study was to examine the combined effects of aging and performance level on pacing of duathletes competing in two different race distances. Pacing (defined as the relative contribution of cycling time, %, to the overall race time) was analyzed for 6,671 duathletes competing from 2003 to 2017 in the short distance race (10 km first run, 50 km cycling and 5 km second run) or long distance race (10 km first run, 150 km cycling and 30 km second run) of “Powerman Zofingen,” the “ITU Powerman Long Distance Duathlon World Championships.” Men were faster, older, and spent less time (%) in cycling than women in both distances races (p < 0.001). Younger age groups spent more time (%) in cycling than their older counterparts in women (both short and long distance, p = 0.036, ηp2 = 0.031, p = 0.025, ηp2 = 0.044, respectively) and men (long distance race, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.016). Fast performance groups spent more time (%) in cycling than their slower counterparts in short (women, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.057; men, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.035) and long distance (women, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.070; men, p < 0.001, ηp2 = 0.052). A small age group × performance group interaction on cycling time (%) was observed in the men’s short distance (p = 0.001, ηp2 = 0.020) – but not in the long distance or in women – with smaller differences between performance groups in the older than in the younger age groups. Women, young and fast duathletes were relatively slower in cycling than men, old and slow duathletes; that was, old duathletes were relatively faster in cycling than in running. Moreover, there was indication that the difference in pacing among performance groups might be attenuated with aging. Since fast duathletes were relatively faster in running than in cycling, slow duathletes should be encouraged to cycle slower and run faster.

An Efficient Metric-Guided Gate Sizing Methodology for Guardband Reduction Under Process Variations and Aging Effects

Circuit reliability due to Bias Temperature Instability, BTI, has become an important concern in scaled-down complex electronic systems. Even more, current silicon technologies are severely affected by the combined impact of BTI-induced device’s aging and Process-induced device’s parameters variations. The conventional worst-case guardbanding to deal with reliable circuit operation is not longer an efficient approach as the circuit performance is significantly penalized. This paper presents a gate-sizing optimization me-thodology to reduce the worst-case guardbanding considering the combined effects of aging due to BTI and process variations. The proposed methodology allows to trade-off the reduction of guardbanding and the area cost. The proposed methodology uses multiple workload-aware aging analysis procedures to identify a realistic workload condition that causes maximum degradation to each potential critical paths of the circuit. In such a way, classic worst-BTI assumptions that lead to over-design are avoided. New gate-sizing metrics are proposed to identify the most beneficial gates to resize in the delay optimization process. In order to compute the gate sizing metrics efficiently, it is proposed a fast approximation for the sensitivity of the statistical delay of a path with respect to a change in the size of a gate. Also, the criticality, slack-time and area penalization are considered in the metric. A heuristic is proposed to guide the iterative delay optimization process. Some key conditions are identified in the workload analysis, metric evaluation and the heuristic to reduce the computational cost. The results show clearly the benefits of using multiple workload-aware aging analysis and the proposed gate-sizing metrics. It is shown that the proposed gate-sizing metrics are more efficient than others available in the literature since they provide a better area-guardband reduction trade-off. The proposed methodology results in more reliable designs at low area overhead, and it is suitable to guarantee the stringent quality requirements of modern circuits.

Influenza infections in Australia 2009\u20132015: is there a combined effect of age and sex on susceptibility to virus subtypes?

BackgroundInfluenza is a global infectious disease with a large burden of illness and high healthcare costs. Those who experience greater burden of disease include younger and older people, and pregnant women. Although there are known age and sex susceptibilities, little is known about how the interaction of age and sex may affect a population’s vulnerability to infection with different subtypes of influenza virus.MethodsLaboratory-confirmed cases of influenza notified between 1 January 2009 and 31 December 2015 obtained from the Australian Government National Notifiable Diseases Surveillance System Influenza Public Data Set were analysed by age, sex and virus subtype. Age standardised notification rates per 100,000 population were calculated separately for females and males and used to generate female-to-male ratios with 95% confidence intervals for influenza A and B, and for virus subtypes A(H1N1)pdm09 and A(H3N2).Results334,560 notifications for influenza A (all notifications), A(H1N1)pmd09, A(H3N2) and B subtypes from a total of 335,414 influenza notifications were analysed. Male notification rates were significantly higher for the 0 to 4 years old age group regardless of virus type or subtype; and higher for those aged 0 to 14 years and those 85 years and older for influenza types A and B and subtype A(H1N1)pdm09. Female notification rates were significantly higher for A(H1N1)pdm09 in those aged 15 to 54 years, for Type A and sub-type A(H3N2) in those aged 15 to 69 years, and for Influenza B in those aged 20 to 74 years.ConclusionsWe observed a female dominance in notification rates throughout the adult age groups, which could possibly be related to health seeking behaviours. However, differences in health seeking behaviours cannot explain the variations observed across virus subtypes in the particular age groups with higher female notifications. Depending on their age, females may be more susceptible to certain subtypes of influenza virus. These observations suggest that there is an interaction between age and sex on susceptibility to influenza infection which varies by the subtype of the virus. The inclusion of pregnancy and menopausal status in surveillance data may assist development of targeted public health approaches during the emergence of new subtypes of influenza virus. Targeted vaccination campaigns may need to take into consideration specific age and sex groups who have a greater susceptibility to influenza infection as well as those who experience a greater burden of illness.

Aging and End Stage Renal Disease Cause A Decrease in Absolute Circulating Lymphocyte Counts with A Shift to A Memory Profile and Diverge in Treg Population.

There is a growing number of elderly kidney transplant (Ktx) recipients. Elderly recipients present lower acute rejection rates but higher incidence of infection and malignancies. Aging per se seems to result in a shift to memory profile and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in premature immunological aging. Understanding aging and CKD effects on the immune system can improve elderly Ktx immunosuppression. We analyzed the effects of aging and CKD in the immune system, comparing healthy adults (HAd) (n=14, 26±2y), healthy elderly (HEld) (n=15, 79±7y), end stage renal disease (ESRD) adults (EnAd) (n=18, 36±7y) and ESRD elderly (EnEld) (n=31, 65±3y) prior to Ktx regarding their naïve, memory and regulatory T and B peripheral lymphocytes. Aging and ESRD presented additive effect decreasing absolute numbers of B and T-lymphocytes, affecting memory, naive and regulatory subsets without synergic effect. Both resulted in higher percentages of T memory subsets and opposing effects on regulatory T (TREG) subsets, higher percentage in aging and lower in ESRD. Combined effect of aging and ESRD also resulted in higher regulatory B cell percentages. In addition to global lymphopenia and TCD4+ memory shift in both aging and ESRD, aging shifts to an immunoregulatory profile, inducing a increase in TREG percentages, contrasting with ESRD that decreases TREGs. Differential immunosuppression regimens for elderly Ktx may be required. (ClinicalTrials.gov number: NTC01631058).

Combined effects of aging and low temperature, long time heating on pork toughness

The combined effects of aging and low temperature, long time heating (LTLT) on meat toughness were investigated. Pork loins were heated at 53 or 58 °C for up to 20 h, and shear force values, cooking loss, moisture content, collagen solubility, electrophoresis of myofibrillar proteins were determined. Structural changes in perimysium were also observed by light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results showed that aging and LTLT cooking independently affected meat toughness, and higher temperature or longer time were required to decrease toughness of one-day aged meat to the same level as in 10-day aged meat. Collagen solubilization is suggested as the main reason for the tenderization effect of LTLT. Myofibrillar proteolysis might not occur during LTLT cooking, and will not be contributing to meat tenderness.

Predicting undetected glaucoma according to age and IOP: a prediction model developed from a primarily European-derived population.

PurposeTo model prediction of undetected glaucoma in a predominantly white population, based on intraocular pressure (IOP) and subject age.MethodsIn 1992–1997, a population screening for glaucoma was performed at Malmö University Hospital where individuals between 55–79 years of age (n = 46 614) living in Malmö, were invited to a free eye health examination. Recently examined patients were not invited (n = 4117). IOP and age were recorded for all screened subjects. Subjects who screened positive were further examined to establish or reject a glaucoma diagnosis. We performed multiple regression analysis of the combined effect of age and IOP on the likelihood of undetected glaucoma.ResultsIn all, 32 918 subjects attended the screening (77.5% of invited), 22 218 women and 11 700 men, while 9579 refrained from participation. Glaucoma was diagnosed in 406 subjects. The proportion of subjects with glaucoma increased exponentially with increasing IOP and older age. Still, the majority of subjects with glaucoma (57%) had ≤IOP 21 mmHg. The predicted rate of undetected glaucoma was low, <5%, for subjects with IOP <25 mmHg, but rose rapidly with higher IOP, reaching 81% in the group with IOP >35 mmHg and age 75–79 years. The model fit well to the data (R 2 = 0.97).ConclusionWe created a model estimating the combined effect of IOP and age on the likelihood of undetected glaucoma. The model may facilitate case‐finding in European‐derived populations. Despite the important impact of IOP on the risk of glaucoma, a large proportion of subjects with undetected glaucoma had IOP ≤ 21 mmHg.

Combined effects of aging and obesity on postural control, muscle activity and maximal voluntary force of muscles mobilizing ankle joint

ObjectiveThe aim of the study was to investigate the influence of age and/or obesity on postural control, ankle muscle activities during balance testing and force production capacities. Materials and methods4 groups; control group (CG; n = 25; age = 31.8 ± 7.5 years; BMI = 21.4 ± 2.5 kg/m2), obese group (OG; n = 25; age = 34.4 ± 9.5 years; BMI = 39.6 ± 5.4 kg/m2), elderly group (EG; n = 15; age = 77.1 ± 8.4 years; BMI = 24.4 ± 1.3 kg/m2) and obese elderly group (ObEG; n = 12; age = 78.6 ± 6.6 years; BMI = 34.5 ± 3.1 kg/m2) performed maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) before testing to calculate the maximal relative force of ankle plantar flexor (PF) and dorsal flexor (DF) muscles. Center of pressure (CoP) parameters and the electromyography (EMG) activity of PF and DF muscles were collected during MVC, quiet standing and limit of stability (LoS) testing along antero-posterior and medio-lateral axes. ResultsMaximal relative force was higher in EG and ObEG than CG and OG, respectively (p < 0.001). CoP parameters, distance traveled along the antero-posterior axis and EMG activity of PF were higher in OG, EG and ObEG compared to CG (p < 0.001) and in EG compared to ObEG (p < 0.05).The EMG activity of PF was positively correlated with CoP parameters in OG and ObEG (r > 0.6; p < 0.05). Maximal relative force of PF (r > −0.6; p < 0.05) was negatively correlated with CoP parameters in ObEG and EG. ConclusionObesity-related postural control alteration is associated with increased activity of PF. This neuromuscular adaptation may reflect deteriorations of the proprioceptive system and is likely additional to age-related muscular impairments. This may be a mechanism by which obesity increases postural control alterations in elderly.

Modeling the productivity of commercial Lactarius mushrooms: A case study in the Kizilcasu planning unit, Turkey

AbstractEmpirical models for mushroom productivity are essential tools for analyzing trade‐offs among multiple objectives when developing and implementing integrated forest management plans. In this study, data measured in 30 permanent plots from a 4‐year period of mushroom production were used to predict mushroom productivity. The fresh weights of Lactarius deliciosus and L. salmonicolor mushrooms were recorded in each sample plot. Owing to the hierarchical structure of the data obtained, equations were developed to produce mixed models using stand and topographic variables. The results showed that increasing slopes increased annual yield in northerly aspects, yet decreased the annual yield in southerly aspects. Besides, the productivity was negatively influenced by height, age and crown closure, and positively influenced by mean stand diameter, growing stock and elevation alone. However, the combined effects of age and diameter and the combined effects of growing stock and height separately showed a negative trend on mushroom yield.Recommendation for Resource Managers Productivity models were developed as important tools in developing nonwood forest products integrated forest management plans. The models show that annual yield of Lactarius mushroom is significantly influenced by certain stand and topographic variables. Use of these models is critical for analyzing trade‐offs among various forest values such as wood and nonwood forest products. The models could lead to optimization of the production and conservation of fungal resources and allow forest managers and field foresters to forecast mushroom production and manage forest interventions affecting mushroom production.

Dynamical Properties of Postural Control in Obese Community-Dwelling Older Adults †.

Postural control is a key aspect in preventing falls. The aim of this study was to determine if obesity affected balance in community-dwelling older adults and serve as an indicator of fall risk. The participants were randomly assigned to receive a comprehensive geriatric assessment followed by a longitudinal assessment of their fall history. The standing postural balance was measured for 98 participants with a Body Mass Index (BMI) ranging from 18 to 63 kg/m2, using a force plate and an inertial measurement unit affixed at the sternum. Participants’ fall history was recorded over 2 years and participants with at least one fall in the prior year were classified as fallers. The results suggest that body weight/BMI is an additional risk factor for falling in elderly persons and may be an important marker for fall risk. The linear variables of postural analysis suggest that the obese fallers have significantly higher sway area and sway ranges, along with higher root mean square and standard deviation of time series. Additionally, it was found that obese fallers have lower complexity of anterior-posterior center of pressure time series. Future studies should examine more closely the combined effect of aging and obesity on dynamic balance.

The hygrothermal aging effects of titanium hydride potassium perchlorate for pyrotechnic combustion

Titanium hydride potassium perchlorate (THPP) is a well-known pyrotechnic initiator commonly utilized in the field of aerospace propulsion. The current study experimentally elucidates the effects of hygrothermal aging on the pyrotechnic combustion of THPP and proposes two methodologies for analysis. The first technique implements a two-step isoconversional method to analyse the hygrothermally aged THPP with Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), and the second method offers a novel aging prediction methodology by comparing the experimental heat of reaction values against idealized equilibrium values. As the heat of reaction plays a major role on determining propellant’s performance, NASA Chemical Equilibrium with Applications (CEA) was used to predict its value. The knowledge of the combined aging effects is directly connected to the performance, lifetime, and safety of a pyrotechnic initiator that utilizes the THPP. The values of heat of reactions for different samples with different aging duration were estimated based on their composition extracted from the X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) study.

Insulin Resistance (IR) in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. Identifying Predictors of Insulin Resistance and Establishing a Correlation Between Insulin Resistance and Cardiovascular Risk

Abstract Insulin resistance is a determinant factor for the increased prevalence of hypertension and dyslipidemia in type 2 diabetes patients. In this study we determined those modifications of clinical and biochemical parameters associated with insulin resistance in the diabetic patient, these alterations can offer us indications concerning the pathophysiological mechanisms that lead to the diabetes development in the case of most patients. Also we determined a correlation between insulin resistance and cardiovascular risk, through the combined effect of age and insulin resistance on this risk.

The effect of aging on pacing strategies of cross-country skiers and the role of performance level

BackgroundThe participation of master cross-country (XC) skiers in training and competition has increased during the last decades; however, little is known yet about whether these athletes differ from their younger counterparts in aspects of performance such as pacing. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to examine the combined effect of age and performance (race time) on pacing in cross-country (XC) skiing. We analyzed all finishers (n = 79,722) in ‘Vasaloppet’ from 2012 to 2017, the largest cross-country skiing race in the world, classified according to their race time into 10 groups: 3-4 h, 4-5 h, ..., 12-13 h.ResultsA trivial main effect of sex on total pace range was observed (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.002), where women (44.1 ± 10.2%) had larger total pace range than men (40.9 ± 11.8%). A large main effect of performance group on total pace range was shown (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.160), where the smallest total pace range was 21.8 ± 1.9% (3-4 h group) and the largest 50.1 ± 9.9% (10-11 h group). A trivial sex×performance group interaction on total pace range was found (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.001) with the largest sex difference in pacing shown in 9-10 h group. A trivial and small main effect of age was found in women (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.005) and men (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.011), respectively, where the masters had smaller total pace range than their younger counterparts. A trivial age group×performance group interaction on total pace range was observed in both women (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.008) and men (p < 0.001, η2 = 0.006) with smaller differences among age groups in the faster performance groups.ConclusionsIn summary, master XC skiers adopted a relatively even pacing independently from their race time and the differences in pacing from the younger XC skiers were more pronounced in the slower masters. These findings suggest that exercise attenuates the decline of performance in master XC skiers as shown by the similar pacing strategies between fast master XC skiers and their younger counterparts.

A new constitutive equation for solid propellant with the effects of aging and viscoelastic Poisson’s ratio

A new constitutive equation for solid propellant with the effects of aging and viscoelastic Poisson’s ratio is proposed. Effects of thermo-oxidative aging and viscoelastic Poisson’s ratio are considered in this comprehensive constitutive equation with two sets of reduced time system coping with the time and temperature dependence. In order to simulate the single and combined effects of aging and viscoelastic Poisson’s ratio, constitutive equation is rewritten into an incremental form and implemented in the user subroutine UMAT at the platform of finite element code ABAQUS. Detailed procedure for acquiring the parameters in constitutive equation is introduced and conducted for the subsequent applied analysis. Two typical loading cases during the service life of solid rocket motor and four sets of combined constitutive models are simulated. Von Mises strain and stress distribution and their changes versus time are utilized as the main analysis index. The results show that the effects of aging and viscoelastic Poisson’s ratio or their combinations will improve or decrease the level and change the distribution of Von Mises strain and stress in varying degrees.